


Heroes and Villains

by Animad345



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:41:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21803863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animad345/pseuds/Animad345
Summary: Leaf made the stupid mistake of getting in a car with the wrong person at the wrong time, and she paid the price. Waking up in a bed, bandaged up, she discovers that her mysterious benefactor is in fact her old nemesis, Giovanni. Even stranger - he has disbanded Team Rocket, for good this time, and wants her to help him redeem himself for everything that he has done. Leaf doesn't like owing favours, so she reluctantly acquiesces, but the agreement soon turns into something that neither she nor Giovanni can fully comprehend.
Relationships: Leaf/Sakaki | Giovanni
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Leaf was conscious, but not quite awake. She knew for certain that she was lying flat on her back, that her head was aching more than anything and that she was alive. Nothing else made sense.

She felt something cool press against her forehead. Was it a cold compress or a gentle hand? She felt a shudder go through her body at the thought that the injuries she had sustained may have affected her limbs. What was she in this world if not a Pokémon trainer? What was she without the sturdy legs that had taken her from region to region? What was she without the arms that sliced through wind, through tall grass, through everything in her way? Her hands...

"It's alright, now." The voice was disturbingly calm, perhaps even slightly amused. "You've been through worse than this and come out of it."

This small detail stimulated the thoughts in Leaf's brain. She wondered who knew her well enough to say something like this. It wasn't her mother speaking, nor Red. She had met so many people, but hardly any that she had maintained relationships with as she moved from place to place.

When the realisation hit her, it was accompanied by a horrendous ache in her stomach. Her eyes opened. She tried to spring up, but could not. She turned to one side and saw a small table with a bouquet, a glass of water with two pills (still in their packet, she couldn't help but noticing) and a picture of herself. It was her in the Viridian City Gym after winning the Earth Badge. She was looking directly at the camera with determined eyes and an expression of repressed triumph. God, she was young. Fifteen, sixteen perhaps? She had never kept track. Not having a calender or a watch on her travels, she'd often lose track of time. Still, she knew for certain that she hadn't been posing. Someone had taken this without her knowledge and the thought both troubled and excited her. Who would do such a thing? Who would want a memento of her first truly impressive battle?

In the room she was currently in, it appeared to be daytime. The light was filtering through the not quite opaque material of the drawn curtains. There was a man in the shadows and she already knew his name.

"Giovanni," she said quietly.

"Leaf," he said. "I thought that you would've forgotten about me by now."

Never, she thought. "Of course not," she replied briskly. "How could I forget the man who made my teenhood far more of a challenge than it should have been?"

There was a long, painful silence. For a moment, Leaf wanted to scream just to break it. But she never did such things. She didn't cry. She didn't show her emotions to people that she couldn't trust and, if truth be told, there were very few people one could adopt as a confidant. That was simply the world that people and Pokémon lived in. There was no point in pretending otherwise. 

"I don't consider that entirely fair." There it was. That was the Giovanni that she knew. 

And this incarnation of him scared her.

"Why am I here?" she asked.

"You really don't remember? That stupid, foolish boy of yours thought that it was a good idea to get into a car without a licence and pick you up."

"He's not my boy," she said through gritted teeth, as all her memories of Blue came back to her in one go. "He was my rival."

Before I met you, she thought.

"People change," said Giovanni. Once upon a time, she had brought them to his knees; he had enjoyed it every time and they both knew that.

They both wanted to wreck each other. Leaf considered it a deeply perverse way of showing that they respected each other's strength. She wondered how Giovanni perceived it.

He came over to her bedside. "How do you feel?"

"My head hurts," she admitted, not wanting to be seen as weak but aware that her health would have to come first this time.

He took the pills from the table and offered them to her. He had large hands, with relatively slender fingers. She tried to ignore his ring. It was ostentatious and would have looked ridiculous on anyone else, but he was a ruthless mob boss after all. She had to make sure not to forget that.

"They are mere painkillers," Giovanni continued. "I take them myself when I have a migraine."

It was Stranger Danger 101 to never drink or swallow something given to you by someone you didn't trust. It occurred Leaf that, at this point, Giovanni probably knew her better than her own mother. The thought was jarring, like a knife resting gently against her heart, threatening to cut it, to penetrate through.

"What do you want, Giovanni? I know you. You wouldn't rescue and look after me unless you had something to gain from it."

"Sharp as always, Miss Green," he said. His sudden change to formality confused and disarmed her. 

This was probably his intention, Leaf thought.

"I disbanded Team Rocket," he said. "For good this time. I want redemption, Miss Green. I need you to help me, to forgive me--"

"You're forgiven," she snapped.

"How gracious of you," he said and she could hear the danger in his voice. He was holding back. "But there are many people that I have hurt, people and Pokémon alike."

"You can't take that back. We can't travel back in time and fix our mistakes."

"My point exactly. And I ask you to consider my proposal."

"And what do I get out of this deal? Is it to be payback for you nursing me against my own will?"

"I think we'll both find out," he said. "Do you want me to leave and give you some privacy?"

"No!" Leaf was startled by her own voice and the fact that, for once, being alone terrified her.

"Leaf, are you--?"

She fell back against the bed. Any negotians would have to wait until tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the next day after that.


	2. Chapter 2

When Leaf next woke up, it was with enormous guilt. She felt sickened that her first thoughts had been for herself, and not her precious Pokémon. She vaguely remembered that she only had her blastoise with her when she got into the car with Blue. 

“Where is she?” she shouted. “Giovanni!”

Instead, a female grunt came into the room. She had short red hair and a solemn expression.

“Can I help you, Miss Green?” she asked.

“My Pokémon. My blastoise. Please, give her back to me.”

“Just a moment.”

It was nearly half an hour before the grunt returned and Leaf was close to biting all her nails off. Damn her and her selfishness. She should have got her blastoise back the moment she spoke with Giovanni.

The grunt came into the room and held out the pokéball. 

Leaf immediately released her blastoise, startling the grunt. She often forgot that the enormity of her Pokémon was shocking to others.

“Oh, thank Arceus,” she groaned, as her blastoise stamped her feet with joy.

She didn’t tell anyone this, but her nickname for her blastoise was Blasty. What could she say? She had been barely more than a stupid kid when she received her.

When she looked up, the grunt was gone and she felt guilty for not thanking her in time.

“It’s OK now, Blasty,” she murmured, ignoring the pain as she sat up properly.

It wasn’t long before there was a harsh knocking at the door.

“Come in,” said Leaf warily, knowing exactly who it would be.

Giovanni looked even more imposing than he had the other day. How long exactly had it been since she last passed out? It was hard to tell.

“You seem better,” he said, his voice smooth. 

Leaf instinctively leaned closer to her blastoise.

Giovanni laughed, loud and strong. “You have nothing to fear from me, Leaf. That goes for your blastoise as well.” Even his words of comfort sounded threatening. “Are you well enough to leave your bed?”

“I haven’t tried,” admitted Leaf. 

Giovanni walked over to the opposite side of the bed to Leaf’s blastoise and held out a hand. Leaf reluctantly took it. She planted her feet to the ground cautiously, ignoring the pain that rose up inside her.

“Good,” said Giovanni. “Now, you must be starving. Won’t you dine with me?”

“It’s not like I have much of a choice,” muttered Leaf. She expected Giovanni’s manner to turn dark as it had yesterday, but he didn’t rise to the bait.

“Come,” he said. “Your blastoise is welcome too, of course.”

Leaf turned to her blastoise, who was gazing with narrowed eyes at Giovanni.

“I see that it doesn’t trust me either. To be expected, I suppose.”

“It’s she.”

“Of course. My apologies.”

His amused tone was starting to annoy her, but she didn’t show it. For now, her fate laid in his hands, and it would not be in her best interests to ruin that in any way.


End file.
